The Rise of the Alemanni - PBM write-ups thread

[econ21]

It would be a lie to say that Suomar had not wept. His grief had been terrible. Hortar’s seizure of Augusta Vindelicorum had not assuaged his bitterness; nor had news of another of Hortar’s victories - this time of a Roman force marauding near Vicus Alemanni. The grief and anger gnawed at Suomar. Then his spies reported the whereabouts of Jovianus Carus and the remnants of his army. In fury, Suomar abandoned Carnuntum, sparking rioting in the streets, and sent off in hot pursuit of the slayers of Cimberius.



Suomar catches up with the killers of his son.



The battle was a messy affair, with Suomar joining the Lombard berserkers in an orgy of killing…



But in the confusion, the wily Roman general Carus can be seen making his escape.

The Romans were defeated but Suomar’s desire for vengeance against their general would have to wait. Reluctantly, Suomar decided to abandon the pursuit of Carus and instead reunite his warriors with the main army under Hortar at Vicus Alemanni.

As a new decade emerged, the Alemanni position was still precarious. They now held four provinces, rather than the one they started with. But the Romans were far from defeated. Vandal hordes roamed near the eastern borders of the Alemanni kingdom, although fortunately Suomar had brokered an alliance with them.

Suomar now faced a choice - whether to strike the Roman towns in the north-west along the Rhine, or whether to drive south to Mediolanium and Italy. Initially, he favoured the former and ordered Hortar to head north. But then, fearing this risked bringing the kingdom into conflict with the Franks and the Saxons, he had a change of heart and recalled his son. In the winter of 373, there was thus a lull in the war between Rome and the Alemanni. The snow covered Rhineland seemed to hold its breath as the direction of the war remained to be decided.